Chicken purée: the bane of my existence

[DobbyForever]

Day one: he choked

Day two: he spat it out in my face but finished it

Day three: he only ate 2 tablespoons and glared at me the whole time

I followed the wholesome baby food instructions day one. I added way more milk day too to get out the lumps then added oat cereal to thicken it day two. Day three was defrosted cubes but yeah. Idk i’m About to give up and just buy made meats and stick to just homemade fruits and veggies. Any advice?

 

[MindUtopia]

Chicken puree honestly sounds awful. You wouldn't eat it, so no surprise he doesn't like either. If you want to stick to purees, then I would think about pureeing whole meals rather than single ingredients. So make a chicken soup and puree it or roast chicken with veg and a low sodium gravy pureed together or any other full meal involving chicken. And when you're ready, move on to finger foods. My friend's 6 month old ate 4 strips of roast chicken breast her first week of solids. She was perfectly able to manage it, even with no teeth. They really can do it. I took the approach that I didn't feed mine anything I didn't think was nice myself and that worked well and she rarely refused anything or had any trouble eating it.

 

[ClairAye]

Chicken puree honestly sounds awful. You wouldn't eat it, so no surprise he doesn't like either. If you want to stick to purees, then I would think about pureeing whole meals rather than single ingredients. So make a chicken soup and puree it or roast chicken with veg and a low sodium gravy pureed together or any other full meal involving chicken. And when you're ready, move on to finger foods. My friend's 6 month old ate 4 strips of roast chicken breast her first week of solids. She was perfectly able to manage it, even with no teeth. They really can do it. I took the approach that I didn't feed mine anything I didn't think was nice myself and that worked well and she rarely refused anything or had any trouble eating it.

This! I would make puree with chicken but blend it with sweet potato and carrot. Chicken on it's own does sound horrible. You could maybe try strips of chicken too now, at around 7 months my son loved getting pasta and chicken and he would just sit and chomp away.

 

[DobbyForever]

Lol thanks ladies I noticed that most jars seem to be chicken plus something. I ate it. It tasted like chicken but I eat a lot of just plain baked chicken so i’m not picky i’ll Try those suggestions! Thanks!

I keep going back and forth on offering finger foods. The internet seems so inconsistent with age/signs of readiness

 

[LoraLoo]

Food is still just for fun at this age. We mainly did blw and most of it got chucked on the floor. It's more about them getting used to holding the Food, and different tastes and textures.
I agree though if you're going to offer purees I would add some veggies such as carrots, brocolli and potato.

 

[DobbyForever]

Ty! My hunch was right that he is not ready for finger foods. He wanted nothing to do with picking up his own food and even when guided nearly choked because he had no instinct to chew. Even when using his little thing that teaches kids to chew, he had no patience or desire. BUT I did make a new chicken batch with apples and sweet potato and, while he still made his yuck face, he ate his full dinner.

 

[jessmke]

Ty! My hunch was right that he is not ready for finger foods. He wanted nothing to do with picking up his own food and even when guided nearly choked because he had no instinct to chew. Even when using his little thing that teaches kids to chew, he had no patience or desire. BUT I did make a new chicken batch with apples and sweet potato and, while he still made his yuck face, he ate his full dinner.

At this age it's not about consuming finger foods, it's about practicing the grasp and the motion of bringing the food to the mouth, getting used to different tastes/textures, etc. It's about learning and the experience rather than actually swallowing any food. If he does get something in his mouth he will probably just push it around with his tongue and then spit it out until he figures out the chewing motions. Let him watch you eat and he will start to mimic your chewing. Also, keep in mind that choking and gagging are two very different things. Gagging is a good thing, it is a protective mechanism to prevent choking. In young babies the gag reflex is triggered really close to the front of their mouths as a way of keeping food away from their airway. As they get better tongue dexterity and used to having food in their mouths, the reflex "moves' backwards, as in it doesn't get triggered until food gets actually close to the airway. It's how their body learns to manage food in the mouth without choking on it. That being said, I hate the gagging! We never did purees with either of my kids, both just had finger foods and regular meals with us from the start, but I must say I really hate those first few weeks when they seem to gag on everything that goes in their mouth, I'm glad that stage is behind us!

 

[noon_child]

Ty! My hunch was right that he is not ready for finger foods. He wanted nothing to do with picking up his own food and even when guided nearly choked because he had no instinct to chew. Even when using his little thing that teaches kids to chew, he had no patience or desire. BUT I did make a new chicken batch with apples and sweet potato and, while he still made his yuck face, he ate his full dinner.

At this age it's not about consuming finger foods, it's about practicing the grasp and the motion of bringing the food to the mouth, getting used to different tastes/textures, etc. It's about learning and the experience rather than actually swallowing any food. If he does get something in his mouth he will probably just push it around with his tongue and then spit it out until he figures out the chewing motions. Let him watch you eat and he will start to mimic your chewing. Also, keep in mind that choking and gagging are two very different things. Gagging is a good thing, it is a protective mechanism to prevent choking. In young babies the gag reflex is triggered really close to the front of their mouths as a way of keeping food away from their airway. As they get better tongue dexterity and used to having food in their mouths, the reflex "moves' backwards, as in it doesn't get triggered until food gets actually close to the airway. It's how their body learns to manage food in the mouth without choking on it. That being said, I hate the gagging! We never did purees with either of my kids, both just had finger foods and regular meals with us from the start, but I must say I really hate those first few weeks when they seem to gag on everything that goes in their mouth, I'm glad that stage is behind us!

I was about to say the same as this. If he has no interest in playing with food with his hands, attempting to chew it, lick it, smoosh it, crush it, throw it he may not be ready for weaning. He's not old enough to "need" food right now, so if he's not interested you could give it a rest and try again in a few weeks.

 

[Zephram]

Plain meat purée is disgusting, I made it once with my first and said never again. If you’re going to do purées just purée what you’re eating for dinner, minus the salt.

My second I did a mix of baby led weaning and purées. He wasn’t keen on the purées at all.